Writings, pics, music, arts and difficult conversations

Curtain Raiser

It’s a Change of Guard in Latin America, Colltalers

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lies in a bed, too sick to attend his own Thursday inauguration. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces the embarrassing prospect of being linked to a vote-buying scandal that rocked his administration.
Through these two leaders and their tenures, is possible to have a very detailed picture of the Latin America in the past two decades. Political stability, economic growth, some dabbling into world geopolitics by Brazil, some slippery incursions into controversy by Venezuela.
Of the two, Lula had so far gotten the best mileage of power and prestige, as his country experienced an unprecedented period of prosperity, and his legacy as its most important leader seemed to have been all but certified. Except that it wasn’t, and now, it’s possible it never will.
Chavez has been judged way more harshly by both the Venezuelan elites that staged a coup to oust him in 2002, and even early supporters of his populist style. At this point, his dreams of becoming a historical figure of the stature of Simon Bolivar are all but dashed, and mainly out of his own doing.
Lula not just upstaged Chavez, with his new-found pragmatism and overture toward foreign investors, but most of his term avoided to appear too lined up with the always embattled Venezuelan. He didn’t really need it, as unlike his two failed attempts at the presidency, he’d finally found the right groove to lead Brazil.
Regardless of what happens, he’d still win any popularity contest both domestically and globally, a feat that’s been denied to Chavez throughout his presidency. Neither anyone will be able to take away from him the merit of having helped Dilma Rousseff to become the first female leader of Brazil.
But as many close allies and cabinet members have been found guilty of corruption, even though no one believes that they will spend any time in jail, Lula’s once solid position as a statesman, and the moral compass of his Workers’ Party, is no longer assured. It might not take much more than that for his credit, as the architect of Brazil’s rise, to start to unravel.
For Chavez, who at times behaved as the dictator his enemies accused him of being, even though he got democratically elected a record four times, his possible fading out of public life will come in a rather silent note.
Long gone is the thunder of his interminable speeches, his attempts to divert the profit of state-run Pedevesa oil company, to his favorite social programs, and his anti-U.S. rhetoric. It may be the sad but prosaic way of disease what might finally knock him out, not the arguably weakness of his political ideas, or lack of imagination as a leader of an impoverished nation.
Despite a long period of high oil prices, Venezuela’s almost sole commodity failed to leverage the country’s ingrained social woes and income gap, at least the way that Chavez had envisioned. None of his programs achieved the permanence and the effectiveness of Lula’s Bolsa Familia, for instance, which is still going strong and provides food to millions of Brazilian poor.
Despite coming from the same populist and electoral-driven place, what Chavez’s always lacked, and Lula had, was a core of capable allies who could turn into valid policies some of the most mediocre ideas both leaders would come up with.
To be sure, both remain immensely popular, but the elites and the military that may shelter suspicious about them both, have several degrees of separation. In Brazil, Lula does have the support of important, and wealthy, segments: corporate leaders, high-ranked military, and members of the upper classes.
Chavez never had the shrewdness to work the kinks of such a powerful demographics. Even though his policies were far from being socialist, his swagger was typically an irritant to those who fell slighted by his rise to power. While he spent hours weekly on TV, threatening to take away land from the rich, which he never actually did, Lula got himself a VP who was a millionaire and a loyal supporter.
Now, as these two oversized political figures fade away, there’s no one in Latin America even close to step into their shoes. Rousseff may have a hard time getting reelected. Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner’s about to end her last term. Bolivia’s Evo Morales, the only truly indigenous leader of the continent, is also completely averted to the spotlight.
And the same goes to the remarkable Jose Mujica who, as President of Uruguay, has already made headlines for his own, for his poverty-vows, and for inspiring laws that will legalize same-sex marriage and the consumption and sale of marijuana.
Which may be just as well. Even though the rise of both Lula and Chavez made the world pay closer attention to the emerging democracies of Latin America, and themselves have contributed to a more relevant conversation about progress and the future, perhaps the time for flashy leaders is finally up.
For all their charisma and flamboyance, what most nations south of the equator now may need is a kind of leader who’s more adept at managing the immense human and natural resources of the region, and set a more progressive example on their use.
It’d also help if they not become entangle in fruitless ideological arguments, or corruption in power.
There may be a new dawn coming for South America and, albeit it may lack the glare and the combativeness that marked the past two decades, it may also bring the hope that progress and prosperity can be better distributed among all its citizens, in ways that at times seem no longer possible in the north hemisphere. Be good and have a great week. WC

WILD HORSES

Harrowing Ride

Audio Portrait

East Village in the 80s through my answering machine. Greeting messages, friendly voices, a recorded ecstasy and many tongues were left on tape for me to remember. Now I'm sharing it all with you. Enjoy it.

World Cup
in S.Africa.
Remember?

Joyce's 'Ulysses'
as Graphic Novel

The illustration above is one of the plates of "Ulysses 'Seen,'" a high quality graphic adaptation by Robert Berry of James Joyce's masterpiece "Ulysses."
For those who never got around to read the long, uninterrupted, controversial June 16, 1904, conversation by Molly Bloom, Stephen Dedalus and others, that the great Irishman envisioned in Dublin, you won't have a better chance to do it.
And for those already familiar with the book form, it's another opportunity to appreciate this enduring work of literature through the eyes of a contemporary artist.
In either case, a few pints of Guinness to go along with it are absolutely optional.

EPITAPH

"Alone we are born, and die alone;
Yet see the red-gold cirrus
Over snow-mountain shine.
Upon the upland road
Ride easy, stranger:
Surrender to the sky
Your heart of anger."

FALSE ALARM

Desmodus

The Artist

Father & Son

Fireball Over Midwest Skies

COLL POLL

The Numbers Are In

Voting stations are closed at this time. The final tally was 13 votes in favor of Coll getting a cellphone and two against it.

MAY 19th IS COLL'S BIRTHDAY & HE WON!

This decision is final. Thank you all for participating. Coll's most heartfelt gratitude goes for the kind souls who voted in favor. For the two heartless hacks who were against it (you know who you are), a SWAP team graciously volunteered to pay you a visit first thing tomorrow morning. Stop by the front desk to request a waiver to present to your teacher, boss or dominatrix. Call your mother. Enroll in a charitable cause. Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen. Run to raise funds for Aids. This is our last broadcast. Please tune in for future promotions. This tape will self-destroy in five seconds. No further ado will come out of nothing. (5/19/2010)

MOTION

CLUTCH

Off-Key Note

Writings, pictures, videos, comments & more, edited by a writer, musician and world citizen living in downtown
New York City.
Acting gigs, a few screenplays and endless clashes with reality.
Brazilian by birth, multilingual by chance, cash strapped as usual.
Agnostic but partial to great soccer. Unmoved by sunsets, campaign speeches, the religious pull or any sure bet.Poor vision and lower back pain. A bottomless pit for a navel. Blue, cats, 9, left, heat and outer space.
Common ground needs not to apply. Not accepting advice at this time.

Naked City

“In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.”

Slideshow

LAST WORDS

* - "Let's do it."GARY GILMORE, executed by firing squad in Jan. 17, 1977, by the State of Utah, for murdering a model clerk. He was the last person to be executed in the U.S. in that fashion until June 18, 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner was shot to death also by Utah.

Norman Mailer wrote "The Executioner's Song," which he called a "true story," based on the relationship he established with Gilmore, a confessed killer, and the state of affairs of the U.S. in the 1970s. The book doesn't shy away from the horrific facts surrounding his murderous spree, but in a way it tones them down and shifts the focus to the society's possible role as a fertile ground for such deviant behavior.